An artful bequest to a Midland museum is set to be put on public display for the first time in the autumn.

Former British diplomat Andrew Franklin, whose family still live in Birmingham, was insistent his 800-piece collection of oriental artefacts should be left to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG) when he died.

Mr Franklin's collection, valued by London auction house Christie's at £216,818, was handed over after he died in 2002 under a scheme which allows people to donate cultural items as a way of sidestepping inheritance tax.

Last week it was revealed artefacts totalling £25.2 million were acquired for British public collections under the Acceptance In Lieu Scheme in 2005.

In many cases it is a way of ensuring valuable artworks remain in British galleries, rather than being bought up by foreign collectors. Mr Franklin's "highly personal" collection included ceramics, books, maps and paintings such as a Guangxu dynasty blue and white dragon dish, made between 1875-1908, and a double page from a 19th century "leaf" album painted with figures from the history of Buddhism in China.

Martin Ellis, senior curator at BMAG, said the Franklin Collection included some fine examples of Chinese culture.

"It's greatest strength is that it's a highly personal collection, it does not appear to have been put together with profit in mind, instead it reflects Mr Franklin's love of China and travel," he said.

"There are two or three 'star' items but really it should be viewed in its entirety. We're in negotiations with some grant-giving bodies to put a programme together, which we hope will go on display here in the autumn.

"Mr Franklin used to come here while visiting his daughter in Birmingham, and he was very frustrated by the lack of Chinese culture at BMAG, so he decided that when he died his collection would be handed over to us."

Other gems in his portfolio of Chinese culture include a number of Ming blue and white plates, and Jesuit porcelain decorated with Western Christian motifs.

Mr Franklin, who originally hailed from London, had joined the diplomatic service in the mid-1930s, his first post was as British Vice-Consul in Beijing in 1937, which involved extensive travel across China, before he was transferred to Shanghai as the Second World War began.

He worked as a diplomat in China, where he met and married his wife, until the late 1960s, before he took up a similar post in Los Angeles, California.